Finding Happily Ever After
by WolfRune20855
Summary: Modern AU. One summer. That is the amount of time that Darling is given to be herself. One summer, and then it's back to the ballrooms and books for her. One summer to find her place in the world and discover what she wants to do for the rest of her life. It's Darling's only chance, and she'll be damned if she doesn't take it.
1. Pretty

There were many things that Darling had been called over the course of her lifetime, many of which were very complementary, but the one thing that Darling Charming had been most often called was _pretty_.

Pretty. Darling had come to despise that word over the years. At first, she had been rather proud that she was pretty, after all, there were worse things that one could be called, but then she began to notice that pretty as the only thing that people ever called her. Her brothers were called dashing, handsome, strong, brave, and a variety of other masculine adjectives. People would marvel at their accomplishments and compliment them, and, when they found the time to talk to Darling, they would compliment her looks. They would call her pretty.

Darling had consulted the dictionary again and again, but the definition of pretty remained the same; an attractive thing, typically a pleasing but unnecessary accessory. And that was how people saw Darling. She wasn't necessary to the world, she was an accessory-a fragile little jewel to be petted and cooed over. Darling had decided that she was going to change that.

She had taken up fencing, and was very good at it. She had a rigorous workout routine that she enjoyed and put both of her brothers' workout routines to same. Still, people only seemed to notice one thing about her. Yes, Darling Charming was an excellent athlete, no one would dare argue otherwise, but what was really amazing was how pretty she was.

Darling had had enough of it. She was sick and tired of everyone overlooking who she really was. She had tried to show them her other talents, but it was hopeless. No one cared. All that anyone seemed to care about was how pretty she was. She was going to do something about it. She was going to get out of here as soon as she could and show the world the real Darling Charming.

"Mother, Father," Darling said, getting her parents' attention, as well as her brothers'. "As you both know, school is almost over, and soon it will be summer." Darling took a deep breath. She could do this. She was Darling freaking Charming for Pete's sake. "And, usually, we go to one of the summer houses, but I was wondering if this year I could stay home instead."

The gasp that came from the room was rather dramatic. Dexter's spoon clattered in to his porridge, splattering oatmeal all over Daring's shirt.

"Why on earth would you want to do that?" her father asked, appalled.

"It's just, I thought that, maybe, I could have some time to decide who I want to be and what I want to do with my life."

"Why would you-"

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Mrs. Charming cut her husband off, "Every girl needs some time to discover who they are and a vacation is just the thing you need."

 _A vacation?_

"Why when I was your age," her mother continued, "I toured Europe with some friends. My parents covered the costs, and I got a great deal out of it. What do you say, Charles? Doesn't Darling touring Europe sound like a wonderful plan?"

"I'm not sure that it's such a good idea," Darling's father said.

"You're right, as usual," Mrs. Charming said, making Darling's heart sink and Dr. Charming's chest puff out a little more. "Europe is too expensive. Darling can tour the United States. I think it's a marvelous idea, don't you?"

"I-"

"It's settled, then," Mrs. Charming said, turning to face Darling, "A tour across America it is. Why don't you come in to my office later, so that we can talk about it, Darling?"

"Yes, mother," Darling said, staring at her mother in shock as she returned to eating her omelet, ignoring the looks her husband kept sending her, electing to read the newspaper instead.

"Very good, Darling, very good."

* * *

Darling stared at the door of her mother's study. Her ready acceptance of Darling's plans this morning had surprised Darling, to say the least. She had always know that her mother was the real mind behind the Charming empire, but she'd never had her mother take her side on anything. Mrs. Charming always seemed to support Dr. Charming on every matter under the sun. Why had she all of a sudden changed?

Darling took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," Mrs. Charming said from inside the study.

Darling pushed open the door and walked inside. She had been in her mother's study a multitude of times, but somehow she was always amazed when she entered. The study was smaller than her father's, but it was still a grand room. Bay windows covered one of the walls with two doors that opened out on to the balcony. A bookcase rested against one of the walls covered in law books of every sort. The thing that always fascinated Darling, however, was her mother's extensive sword collection. Darling had never seen more swords in her life, not even in a museum.

"Take a seat," her mother said, gesturing to the seat across from hers. Darling sat down, and smiled nervously. Her mother was an imposing figure. It was no surprise, seeing as Mrs. Charming was a lawyer. Her mother's beauty was commanding. Darling's beauty, on the other hand, was soft. "I've been thinking about what I said this morning," her mother began, "about taking a tour, and I've decided that a tour isn't really your style. You've always been more interested in seeing nature than seeing the world. So what do you think of taking a road trip?"

Darling blinked. A road trip? Was this really her mother speaking, or had some strange being possessed her body? Darling had heard of road trips before, but she'd never taken one. She'd most certainly never heard of a _Charming_ taking one.

"A road trip sounds great," Darling said and her mother smiled.

"That's just wonderful," Mrs. Charming said, "Now there's another issue that we need to address. Obviously, we can't have you wandering around the country on your own. You'll need a chaperon, and, since kids your age usually go on road trips with their friends, it should probably be someone around your own age. I was thinking about Apple White-"

Darling gulped. Apple White was Daring's almost-girlfriend and one of the most stuck-up snobs that Darling knew. Apple White was everything that people wanted Darling to be and more. Darling could not go on a road trip with Apple White.

"but then I remembered that she's hosting a charity event in the middle of the summer," Darling's mother reached into her desk and pulled out a folder full of papers. "So I've been looking at you your classmates, and I think that I found the perfect one."

She places a sheet of paper in front of Darling. Darling looked down at it. On the piece of paper was a boy that looked somewhat familiar. He had black hair, blue eyes, and reasonably tan skin. He was wearing a Grimm prep uniform, but Darling couldn't name who he was.

"This is Chase Redford," Mrs. Charming said, "He's on the fencing team."

Darling nodded. That would explain it. Headmaster Grimm didn't allow girls on the fencing team, so Darling tended to just ignore them. Still, she had gone to a match or two. He was quite good, though not a good as herself, if Darling was remembering correctly.

"His parents aren't wealthy, or even famous. He's a scholarship student."

 _Scholarship student?_ Darling raised an eyebrow. If her father knew, he'd freak out. Charmings didn't associate themselves with the commoners. They were to be talked to only during voting season, and, even then, they should be kept at an arms length.

"I would rather you not tell your father about your companion," her mother said, "Let me take care of him."

"Yes, mother," Darling nodded. She wasn't too happy about having to take a companion, but at least it wasn't Apple White.

* * *

"You're taking a road trip?" Darling's twin brother, Dexter, asked from the edge of her bed. She smiled at the shocked expression on his face. It seemed like their mother's sudden decision surprised him as much as it did her.

"Yes," Darling said, "and before you say anything, it was Mother's idea. I had nothing to do with it."

"For some reason, I don't quite believe you," Dexter said.

"Well, you should, because I'm telling the truth."

"Okay," Dexter said, "Suppose you're telling the truth, there's no way Mother would let you go by yourself. Father would have a cow."

Darling sighed. "I'm not going by myself," she said.

Dexter raised an eyebrow. "Really? Then who are you going with? Is it Apple?"

"Thank goodness, no," Darling said, "It's some scholarship kid that Mother probably thinks will be a good influence on me."

"Scholarship kid?"

"Yeah," Darling said, "His name's Chase Redford. Do you know him?"

"No," Dexter said, and Darling couldn't help but be a little disappointed. The more she knew about this boy before she met him, the better. She was becoming less and less fond of the idea of a babysitter by the minute. "I think Raven does, though."

"Raven knows everybody," Darling said, and Dexter shrugged.

Raven Queen was Dexter's secret girlfriend, as well at the daughter of Ms. Queen, the other senator. The _democratic_ senator. While Dr. Charming could stand Ms. Queen and her daughter at annual dinner parties, he would freak out if he knew that something was going on between Dexter and Raven. That was why they were in a secret relationship, one that only Darling knew about.

"So, what are you planning on doing over the summer?" Darling asked.

"Tech camp," Dexter said plainly."But there happens to be a music camp just a little down the road. So, it's not all bad."

Darling smiled. "Is Raven going to said music camp?"

Dexter shrugged. "If she is, I had nothing to do with it," he said, making Darling laugh.

* * *

The end of school could not come fast enough. Darling found herself counting down the hours in every class. She was ready for school to be over, and for her life to begin.

Much to her surprise, Darling started to notice things as school came to a close, mostly the fact that she shared a class with the pride of Grimm Preparatory's fencing team, Chase Redford. She didn't know why she'd never noticed him before. He was relatively good looking, and, despite being smart and an excellent athlete, Darling still was a girl.

Darling caught herself watching him whenever he spoke up in class. This she dismissed as being curious about the boy that she was going to be shackled to for the summer. She liked the idea of her freedom, but she didn't like the idea of Chase Redford, even if he was nice to look at. Plus, she didn't know much about him, and she didn't know anyone else that did either.

"Hey," a voice said, pulling Darling out of her thoughts. Darling looked up to find Briar Beauty sitting in front of her. Briar was the one and only child of the worlds most successful business woman and her trophy husband. At least, that's how Darling saw it. Briar's mother owned a cosmetics company, several airlines, and a small country. Her mother encouraged Briar's social life, meaning that Briar's parties were always the best and they were always funded by her mother. "I just thought you should know that the hottie over there is looking at you," Briar said, pointing over her shoulder.

Darling peeked around Briar to find Chase Redford studying his textbook intently. "Oh," Darling muttered.

"Is there something going on between the two of you?" Briar asked, "Not that I need to know, I was just wondering."

Darling almost laughed at that. The only person that was more of a gossip mill than Briar was Blondie, and she literally ran a gossip website for the school.

"No," she said, "He's probably just fascinated by my hair."

"Probably," Briar agreed, "I was just like...Chase's cute and all, but he's a scholarship student, and you're a Charming. That'd be weird. It'd be like your brother dating Raven Queen or something. No offense."

"None taken," Darling said, not letting Briar know how close she really was to the truth.

"Anyways," Briar said sliding up from the seat, "I'm going to get going. I promised Apple that I'd meet her for lunch. She's trying to convince me to throw a fundraiser."

"And will you?"

Briar laughed. "Of course, it's an excuse to party, but Apple has to buy me lunch first."

Darling laughed and watched as the school's party girl left. Briar was nice. A bit crazy? Definitely. But she was nice. Darling glanced around the library, her eyes coming to a stop on Chase Redford. She was going to have to talk to him sooner or later, and, while she preferred later, it was just going to make an awkward road trip even more awkward.

Darling picked up her books and took a seat at Chase's table without bothering to ask. The boy looked up as she did so, a slightly pissed expression on his face.

"Hi," Darling said, sticking out her hand, "I'm Darling Charming."

"I know who you are," Chase said, not bothering to shake her hand.

"Well, I just thought I should introduce myself since we're going to be seeing each other a lot soon."

Chase rolled his eyes at that. "Look," he said, looking Darling in the eye, "I know who you are and I know what we're doing this summer. The fact is, I don't care. I wouldn't be going with you if your mother hadn't offered to pay me, okay? We're not friends. We are just two people that are going on a road trip together, got it?"

Darling stared at Chase. She hadn't thought that he would be so angry. She felt herself getting madder at him by the minute, though she tried to keep her features composed. Darling was an excellent liar, and she wasn't about to let this selfish scholarship student know that he had gotten to her. She was better than that. She was Darling freaking Charming!

"I understand," Darling said with a smile that would appear real to anyone that didn't know her. "I'll make sure not to bother you again." She stood up and shouldered her bag, her smile staying on the entire time. "I'll see you on Monday," she said.

Darling turned around and walked out of the library. She heard Chase mutter something to himself as she did so, and had to resist the urge to beat him to a pulp.

This boy didn't know what he was dealing with. Like every other person in Darling's life, he had assumed that she was _just_ another pretty face, and he was going to regret it. Chase Redford had just made an enemy out of Darling Charming, and now he would spend an entire summer with her. Darling smiled to herself as she walked down the hallway. She was going to make Chase Redford regret underestimating her if it was the last thing she did.

Suddenly, her summer was looking a lot brighter.


	2. Summer

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Darling threw a pillow in the direction her twin's voice was coming from. A second later she heard a satisfying, "Ow!" Darling grinned into her pillow and willed herself to fall back asleep. "Seriously, Darl, there's a sleep deprived Chase Redford waiting downstairs for you and the bus is going to pick you up in fifteen minutes."

Darling's eyes snapped open. Today was the day. Monday. The first day of her freedom from everyone except for that idiotic fencer. The first day that she could be herself and not the pretty, proper senator's daughter everyone expected her to be. All that she had to do was tolerate Chase Redford, who no doubt would be sending reports to her mother. She could do that. If she didn't kill him first.

It took a total of three minutes for Darling to get dressed. With a smile to Dexter, Darling grabbed her pack and ran out of the room, hopping onto the banister and sliding all the way down. Her mother was waiting for her in the foyer. Standing beside her was Chase Redford, his face betraying no sign whatsoever of emotion. Darling shrugged, maybe he didn't have any.

"Darling," her mother said with a smile, "It's nice of you to finally join us."

Darling had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother was acting as if it was Darling's fault that she slept in. Maybe it was. She glanced at the clock on the wall. Scratch that, waking up at seven oh two was not sleeping in.

"This is Chase Redford. He's informed me that you two already know each other."

If by know each other you mean that he shouted at me in the library, then yes. Yes, we do know each other.

Instead Darling smiled tersely. "We do," was all that she said.

Mrs. Charming nodded. "Well, you two best be off. The bus will be here any minute," she said, and ushered them out the door.

Darling stood on the front porch of their house(although a better word for it would be mansion), and tried to ignore the boy standing right next to her. He appeared to be doing the same, so Darling succeeded.

"Your mom seems nice," Chase Redford commented.

Darling let out a brisk laughed. "She's not."

"Okay," Chase muttered and the silence settled once more. It was interrupted again by the sound of an engine. Darling craned her neck to get a better look of the vehicle that would be taking her across the country.

"You've got to be kidding me," Darling said.

"I don't think they are."

Darling groaned as the car pulled to a stop in front of them, for it was a car. It was a white van, like the kind that bad guys drive in movies or teenagers take on mission trip. It was not a bus. Not in the slightest.

The door swung open and a skinny man with a mustache jumped out of it. He smiled at them. "You must be Darling," he said.

Darling nodded. "Yes."

"Well, then, we should get going. Where's your luggage?" When he saw that Darling had only her backpack and Chase only had his, he seemed confused, and a bit released. He opened the backseat of the car. Darling leaned in to find three middle school aged boys and one girl around her own age staring back at her. "Alrighty everyone," the man said, "This is Darling, be nice to her. She's traveling with us for the summer."

Darling felt her stomach drop. She was supposed to travel with these five people for the rest of the summer. She'd agreed to Chase accompanying her, not three snot nosed children and a girl. Darling sighed and took a seat next to the girl in the front, leaving Chase to fend for himself.

This was going to be the worst summer vacation ever.

* * *

The girl next to her was named Rosebella. She had brown eyes, brown hair, and apparently also went to Grimm's. Funny, Darling couldn't remember seeing her before. She also had an enormous crush on Darling's brother, which was awkward to say the least.

"So," Darling said, trying to turn the topic away from her brother's glorious hair, "What are you doing this summer?"

"I'm going to pride parades and protests across that country. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Fun was not the word that Darling would have used to describe Rosebella's summer activities. But to each their own, right?

Darling glanced behind her at Chase, who had plugged in his earphones in an attempt to get the younger boys to leave him alone. It didn't appear to be working. Darling shook her head, this wasn't going to work. There was no way that she could do this for the entire summer. She needed to get out of here.

"Hey," Darling said, getting the driver's attention, "Can we stop at the next gas station. I need to use the restroom."

"Me too," Rosebella agreed as the boys in the back seat all said that they also needed to use the restroom in less than pleasant terms. Darling shook her head. What was it with middle schoolers and inappropriate jokes.

There was no way she could put up with them for the rest of the summer.

She needed to get out of here.

* * *

Chase Redford was pulled out of his sleep by the sound of tires screeching on the pavement and someone beside him shouting. He glanced outside for a moment, trying to make sense of his surrounding. He wasn't in Wonderland. Why wasn't-

"Chase." The sound of Darling Charming's voice cut through his earphones.

Right, that was where he was. He was on a trip with a spoiled princess because her mommy offered him money. Chase banged his head against the seat in front of him. Why had he taken this job? He missed Wonderland. He missed Lizzie.

"Chase," Darling said again and Chase pulled out his left headphone.

"What?"

"Come on. Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To the bathroom, dipshit," said one of the prepubescent boys next to him. Chase rolled his eyes.

"I don't need to go," he said. He was about to stick his earphone back in his ear when they were rudely yanked away by the princess herself.

"I think that you do," Darling Charming said. She leaned in closer to him and murmured, "If you want to ditch the immature crowd here then I recommend that you come."

Chase followed Darling out the door, taking his bag with him because he did not trust any of the other kids on that fish kid bus thingy. Darling had her backpack on too, he notice. Huh? That was weird. You didn't need your backpack to go the restroom.

When Darling walked straight past the gas station and down the road, Chase caught up to her. "What are you doing?"

"I," Darling continued her brisk pace down the road, "am leaving."

"You're going back home?"

"No, I'm leaving," Darling said, "I like pride parades and protests as much as the next conservative senator's daughter, but I'm not about to spent my summer attending them."

"Okay," Chase nodded, "So, what are you going to do instead."

"I'm going to hitchhike."

Chase had to pick his jaw up off of the floor. Her? Hitchhike? Why would a pretty little girl like her want to hitchhike?

"Listen princess," Chase said, "I was hired to keep you safe, and it's my expert opinion that you should not hitchhike."

"I wasn't asking for you opinion." Darling trudged on.

Chase shook his head. Why did this girl have to be so stubborn? Wasn't she supposed to be the pride of the Charming family or something? The perfect little girl who got perfect little grades? Who was this girl in front of him?

"Look, Chase," Darling said, "I'm going to go whether you want me to or not. Comprende?"

"What about your parents? What will they do if they hear that you're no longer with the bus?"

Darling shrugged. "They'll probably activate my microchip. I wouldn't be worried."

Microchip? This girl had a microchip inside of her? What kind of crazy people were her parents that they would do that to their daughter?

"How will you pay for things?"

"I have three different debit cards, and a credit card," Darling said, "I think we're fine."

Chase nodded. Right. She was rich. He'd forgotten about that for a moment. "Alright then. Let's go."

Darling Charming smiled. "Let's go," she echoed, and Chase followed the pretty, rich girl down the side of the road.

This was going to be a weird summer.

* * *

 **Author's Note**

 _"What is this, Meg?" you ask._

 _"This," Meg says, "is an update. I know that it's been nearly a year since I originally published, but I was busy. Other fics to write, people to ship, you know what I mean?"_

 _You nod. Yes, you indeed do know what it is like. Still, Meg's usually better than this. She doesn't usually leave her stories for such long periods of time. You mention this to her._

 _Meg laughs. "Yeah right," she says, "I update Percy Jackson and the Shadowhunters once every blue moon, and the only reason that I even finished Only Science is because a friend from school pestered me to every day." There's a pause, and then she sighs. "But you're right. I almost never leave fics alone for this long."_

 _You watch her in silence. What now? Would she ever update Finding Happily Ever After again._

 _"I plan to update more frequently, but not as frequently as I do my Darise fics," Meg says. She slides a thumb drive across the table. "I hope that this makes up for it."_

 _"What's on this?" you ask._

 _"Their Instagram profiles," Meg says, "I'd like to know what you think of them, and of the chapter. You can only view them on my Wattpad. My username's the same."_

 _You look down at the flash drive. Instagram profiles? You open your mouth to ask more, but Meg is no longer there. She has vanished, and you have no idea when she's going to retur_ n.


	3. Hitchhiker

Darling must have stuck her thumb out six hundred times, but each time she did, the car drove right past them. She sighed as she continued down the road. Her mother had always said that hitchhikers were nothing but trouble, maybe the rest of the world thought so too. Maybe they should just turn around and get back on the annoying-mobile.

"Hey, Princess," Chase Redford said, "I don't think that anyone's going to be picking us up."

Darling's resolve hardened. "That's because you know nothing about hitchhiking," Darling said, picking up the pace.

Unfortunately, Chase was taller than her by several inches, so he had no problem matching her strides. "And you do?"

Darling huffed. Okay. So maybe she knew nothing about hitchhiking, or about the world outside of her house in general, but it wasn't her fault. She wanted nothing more than to explore, and explore she would. Even if she had to do so with Chase Redford.

Several more vehicles passed by them, and Darling stuck out her thumb. To her surprise a battered red pickup truck pulled off of the road. The girl in the passenger seat leaned out the window. "Need a ride?" she asked.

Darling smiled. She was beginning to think that they'd have to walk the entire summer. "Yeah," she said. As she started towards the car, Chase grabbed her arm. "What?"

"Do you think that it's safe to go with them?"

Darling rolled her eyes. "She's barely older than us, Chase. I doubt that she means us any harm." Chase looked at the car skeptically, and Darling shrugged off his hand. What was with this boy that he hated he, yet he cared that she live? It was probably just because her mom was paying him.

The girl was holding the passenger door open, and Darling stepped inside. There was one long bench stretching across the front seat. A girl with shoulder length brown hair was sitting at the wheel. She smiled when Darling slid in next to her.

"I'm Cerise," the girl introduced herself.

"Darling," Darling said, looking for a seat belt.

"You'll have to share one with your boyfriend," Cerise said, answering her unspoken question.

"Okay." Darling nodded, unsure whether or not she should correct Cerise. Before she had the chance to, Chase slid in next to her, and Cerise's sister closed the door behind her.

"I'm Ramona," Cerise's sister said, "This is my sister, Cerise."

"I'm Darling, and this is Chase." Chase looked extremely uncomfortable, more so when Darling passed him the seat belt to share. There was no way that this was legal.

"So," Cerise said as she started the car and pulled onto the highway, "Where're y'all headed?"

Darling shrugged. "Just drop us off wherever you see fit."

"We're headed back home to Kansas," Ramona said, "We can drop you off anywhere along the road."

"Kansas sound good."

"Kansas it is, then."

* * *

Chase watched Darling interact with the two girls that they were smushed between. She was doing surprisingly well. She had not once gotten angry at them, or shouted at them. In fact, they had found a common ground talking about school. Apparently the two sisters were on their way back from visiting their grandmother in Virginia. Cerise was going to be a Senior, and Ramona was going to be a Sophomore.

"So," Ramona said, tearing her attention away from Darling and Cerise's conversation with ha just turned to sports, and focusing on Chase, "Where are you from?"

"Colorado," Chase answered.

"Really?" Ramona's interest piqued, "Where in Colorado?"

"Wonderland," Chase answered, "You've probably never heard of it."

Ramona frowned. "No. I haven't."

"That's fine. It's a small town."

"I know what that's like," Ramona said, "We're from Forest. It's kind of annoying when everyone knows everyone else."

"I like it," Chase said, "I go to a big school, and it's worse when there are a lot of strangers that you don't know."

Ramona shrugged. "Well, you're never see me in Forest after I'm done with school. New York City, here I come."

Her sister snorted. "Where exactly are you getting the money to move to New York City?"

"I'll get it somewhere." Ramona stuck her tongue out at Cerise.

Cerise rolled her eyes, then turned back to Darling. "So, what're your plans after school?"

"I don't know," Darling said, a frown marring her perfect features. Wait...not perfect. The princess was many things, but perfect was not one of them. Why had he thought that?

"Come on," Ramona said, "You've got to have some idea of what you want to do."

"I suppose that I'll go to college," Darling said, "I haven't thought about much more than that."

"Well, you still have a few more years to decide." Cerise offered her a smile.

Chase stared at the girl next to him, still annoyed that he thought that she was perfect. How could she not know what she wanted to do with her life? Hadn't her parents planned it out for her since birth? Her parents seemed like the weird kind that would so that sort of thing.

"What about you, Chase?" Cerise asked.

"I'll go to college, then I'll go back home," Chase answered.

Darling was staring at him now, her big blue eyes curious. "Where's home?"

"Somewhere far away," Chase answered. Though, he realized, if they were heading to Kansas then Wonderland wouldn't be as far away as it seemed. Maybe he could ditch Darling and head back home. How he missed Wonderland.

* * *

They stopped at a hostel in Missouri for the night. Cerise and Ramona both fell asleep the moment that their heads hit the mattress, the latter of the two snoring loudly. Darling, on the other hand, couldn't fall asleep.

She stared up at the ceiling in the moonlit room. It was the first time that she'd ever slept in a hostel. To be honest, it was the first time that she'd ever spent a night away from home. She had been to a couple of sleepovers when she was in middle school. Apple White had been kind enough to invite her to her regular parties, but Darling had never spent the night. She couldn't when all of the girls around her were everything that her parents wanted her to be.

Back home, Darling wasn't popular. Sure, everyone knew who she was, but she wasn't popular like her either of her brothers were. People just gravitated towards Daring and Dexter in a way that they didn't with Darling. She didn't have many friends back home.

"Princess." Darling was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of Chase Redford's voice.

"What?"

"I just wanted to say thanks for deciding to ditch the kiddy van. I don't think that I could have stood those prepubescents any longer."

"You're welcome."

"Cool."

"Cool." With that, both Chase and Darling fell silent. Darling glanced at his silhouette as his breathing evened out and he fell asleep. Had they just had a polite conversation? Was it possible for Darling to actually survive the summer with him? Darling shook her head. It was probably just a fluke.

She doubted that it would happen again.

* * *

Chase was awoken in the middle of the night by the ringing of his phone. He cursed as he picked it up, and quickly answered, not bothering to check who it was that was calling. "What?" he asked crankily.

"Chase." Lizzie sounded like she was crying.

"Lizzie? Lizzie, what is it?"

Lizzie sobbed a few times on the other line before pulling herself together. Chase could practically see her giving herself a pep talk on the other end of the line. _You are Lizzie Hearts. You do not cry_. "It's Mom."

"What about her?"

"She was in a car accident," Lizzie said, "The doctors don't know if she'll make it. I know that you're still in Virginia, but I just thought-"

"I'll be there," Chase said, "How long does she have?"

"They don't know. Just come here. Please, I need you."

"Don't worry. I'll leave in the morning."

"Thank you," Lizzie said. She hung up the phone. Chase dropped his phone on the floor. He couldn't fall back asleep for several hours.


End file.
